IDRIES SHAH

The name of IDRIES SHAH may be very familiar to people who read my blogs as well as his many, many writings, some believed to have been written under pseudonymns or by others for him...........He exerted a certain influence on many he met, particularly, the late John G. Bennett, another important figure in these studies and practices,though not a sufi himself exactly...... The book entitled,THE SECRET LORE OF MAGIC was the very first book by the late Idries Shah under his name that I read and it deals with Western Magic and the various grimoire(s) and practices and rituals found in that area.....so one might well ask,"Why should a most prominent Sufi be interested in Western Magic?" Of course, the Near East and Central Asia as well as India have had no end of various wonderworkers and magicians as well as those known as Fakirs and 'assassins' or 'thugs',etc. So perhaps that oriental background of intrigue and mystery appealed to him, even while he was being educated in England, apparently, and, of course, he became 'under the spell' through employment with the late Gerald Gardiner, the noted and recognized reviver of modern witchcraft(ceremonies) and paganism,etc. by those who came along his lines of endeavor.....including those who branched off from the occult order of THE GOLDEN DAWN......I am giving a very undetailed and superficial discussion here since I am not able to go further into such and am relying on my memory and associations to do this now... Another book I read early on and which has attracted a lot of attention over the years for obvious reasons is A HISTORY OF SECRET SOCIETIES by Arkon Daraul, which many attribute to Idries Shah, along with another book, that I read and owned some years ago, but cannot find what happened to,THE TEACHERS OF GURDJIEFF by Rafael LeFort......... Although criticized and analyzed, the books have made many impressions on people and still do today...even if, as claimed, they are error-laden and somewhat blatant.....nevertheless, they can be most entertaining and stimulative as many things are, such as, legends, fables, folklore, sagas, myths, etc. The actual practices and exercises and other aspects of Sufism are usually what others attracted to such take up and try to follow or understand which is something more than an intellectual acceptance of 'Sufi Ideas" as understood in the West......Few persons really undertake actual initiations in the East but do take up seminars, workshops, dances, and other things in the West and also link up aspects of yoga, Buddhism,Christianity,etc. with Sufism.....as many will note in modern books on the subjects..... But in fairness to Sufism and to many writers the connections between Islam, Judaism,and Christianity and other religions on either an esoteric basis or level or on an exoteric basis is possible and admirable, despite sectarian concerns that those who really understand tend to ignore or overlook and downplay..